Secret Wishes
I was remembering a story that I am going to relate to you, that happened to me when I was a child. It was really helpful to me to see how it may still be affecting me as an adult. Before I get into this, a couple of days ago I gave you a link to a Permission Process Twist. Be sure to keep that handy. Today could be one of those days that you might need to use that process. Some memories from your childhood that are still affecting your adulthood may come up.
The story that I want to share with you was when I was probably about seven years old. I wanted so badly for Santa to bring me something, and I knew it wasn't something that my parents could give me. For weeks before Christmas, as soon as I had gotten the idea, I was hoping, hoping, hoping and praying, and wishing for this thing to be under the tree on Christmas morning. I knew that my parents couldn't give it to me, so I didn't ask them. What I did was to put it in a note to Santa, I'd already written my letter to Santa weeks before, but I wrote a note on Christmas Eve and I folded it up and put it right by the cookies so that when Santa came to our house and he went to get the cookies, he would find my note. And of course, Santa magically could bring that thing that night, even though I hadn't asked for it in my Santa letter earlier that month.
I was so hopeful that he would give it to me, but I knew that it was a big ask. When I came down the stairs on Christmas morning, I was so hopeful and so excited to see this thing under the tree. And my older brother, who was a perpetual tease, met me at the bottom of the stairs with a big smile (big sneer more like) on his face. And he started laughing at me and making fun of me for what I had asked for in this letter to Santa. I pushed by him and I went to look under the tree. I was trying to see if the shape of the box might tell me if Santa had brought it, in spite of my brother finding the letter and knowing what it was.
It was not under the tree. In my seven-year-old mind, I made up the reason and blamed it on my brother who had found the note before Santa had found it. Santa never got the note! That must be why I didn't receive what I asked for. That explanation worked for me in my seven-year-old mind. But there was also another decision that was made at that time, and that decision was that it is dangerous to ask for things that are beyond what you believe people on earth, in normal reality, can give. Wishes that are beyond what I felt were beyond reality needed to be kept to myself. That decision stuck with me throughout my life. I can remember several different situations, especially in my professional life where I would be working in my businesses, and I would feel this excitement inside me as I saw a huge vision and the way that things could play out successfully.
I would feel that excitement building within me and I would consciously say, “Nope, now calm down, don't get too excited.” I would get back into that place of reality. I never would speak these exciting visions out loud because I was afraid of ridicule. I was afraid of being made fun of for these things. I compensated for being able to receive (because I wasn't able to ask for the bigger visions) by giving. I would overgive, I would give more than any normal person would. I felt that if I gave, then I would deserve and maybe, just maybe, I would receive.
That has been a tendency throughout my life…to over give for the purpose of maybe getting, if I give a lot. I saw that the request was so huge..this wish was so huge, this vision that I saw was so huge, that I would have to give a lot and then hopefully reciprocity will come into play. The flow will come back in and I will get something as big as this wish or this vision. But I would never speak it out loud.
If you have my book The Seven Gateways check out Gateway Two, The Gateway of Abundance. That chapter gives a lot of insight into abundant giving. https://wylenebenson.com/product/the-seven-gateways/ Click here to pre-order the second edition of The Seven Gateways.
Reality is that abundance flows both ways. We've already talked about in and out as a natural flow of nature. It's the way that God created the earth. There is always in and there is always out, that is the natural flow. My out is your in and your in is my out. We do have to ask (out) to be able to receive (in). We have to send something out. But remember in and out is the natural flow of nature. We don’t send out a lot of good in hopes of getting a little good. We don’t send out tons of gifts in hopes of getting a little gift. The natural flow is always there, we just have to voice what we want to be part of it.
God has told us and Christ exemplified that we need to send out requests. When the 5000 needed to be fed, Jesus said ‘what have we got?” (Matthew 6:38 - “He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.”) The original plan was to send the people away. Jesus decided to ask what was available, and the people stayed and were fed. We have to send out an intention. We have to voice our intention. We have to voice this wish, this dream, this bigger vision that God has given us. We have to voice it. We have to send it out to be able to receive it back. We have to send the message out for other people to grab ahold of that dream or that vision and say, “I want to be part of it too” and when they are part of it, they come back to you.
The exercise for today may bring up some fears for you. Or maybe you've already got this figured out and this won't trigger anything. For me, when I had the thought of doing this, I had some little hesitations inside of being heckled or being worried about asking for something too big that's not going to happen. I also had the thought, “nobody can help me, no person can help me.” And that’s correct…for some things, no person can help. It’s going to have to be God or Santa (the spirit of what Christ represents). That thought helps me.
I just now thought of another example that proves that this is true…when I was writing the book The Seven Gateways, the first time when I was publishing it, I needed to pay an editor to help me go through to finalize the editing before I could publish it. The starting price to do that was $4,000. I didn't have $4,000 at the moment, but I knew it was super important for me to get this book out. I voiced that need on my Daily Gratitude Call podcast. At the time, we were doing that call LIVE. I voiced it. I didn't ask for anybody to pay for it, I simply voiced that this was a need that I had. That's all I did was to voice the need. I knew the editing was the next step. I don't have the money, but I know God always provides. I knew that it would be there because this is the next step. As soon as the Gratitude Call was over, I received a phone call from someone who was on the call that day. They said, “I want to help you. I believe in what you're doing. I believe in this book as you do, I want to help you get it. What do you need?” I told him that it was $4,000 and he said, “I have it. I will give it to you.” That is how that book came to fruition to begin with. Somebody heard my request. It wasn't a plea for help, it was voicing my vision. That's all it was…voicing the vision. This person received that vision and wanted to be part of it. He gave me a call and of course The Seven Gateways was born. We're even to the point where we're about to publish the second edition.
I’m really grateful for that additional insight that God gave me as I was presenting today’s method of keeping Christ in Christmas. That example that He reminded me of proves that it isn't a needy pleading. Even when you go to God, we have been taught that we need to get down on our knees and we have to grovel and plead and hope that he will have mercy on us.
We are poor little people down here. That is not what He desires. We just need to communicate the vision and ask for what we need. It's sharing the wish and the dream that you have of something greater, something bigger, a vision that other people can be part of. I've noticed that these big visions that we have, they're way bigger than what we can accomplish on our own. There is a reason for that. It's for us to be able to voice this vision to other people to let them be part of it.
When we were little we would write letters to Santa, I still write a letter to Santa every year. My whole family still does. That’s a tradition that we've continued. Today, the exercise that I would like to have us do is similar to when you were little. You would write those letters…hoping and praying, maybe asking for things that you felt were beyond what your parents could give you or anybody on earth could give you. This is a time for you to voice that bigger vision for you to be able to speak out loud and on paper, to speak on paper what your bigger vision is. It may be a physical thing or it may be an ethereal thing that you are asking for. It might be an idea of something that you would like to see in the world, a way of being better. Whatever that is, take some time today. Don't just throw it down on paper, really give this some time. Maybe, throughout the day, ask for God to open up these visions to you.
In the past you might have shoved them aside. You might have thought, “oh, that's too big. I can't do that. I don't have the money for that. I'll do that later.” Any of those things that you maybe have shoved aside, it's time to put these on paper. If God is opening up this vision to you, you can! If He's giving the vision to you, He will provide a way to do it. But it's probably not going to come from you alone, it's probably going to come from inviting other people.
This is a two part exercise. The first part is asking for those visions, those dreams, those wishes to come to you…writing them down in a letter to God (or Santa if that works better for you).
The second thing is for you to tell three people, and this is where I was saying you might need that Permission Process Twist because there might be some fear coming up inside of you. Remember, fear is all due to past decisions that we've made about ourselves that it's not okay to ask.
It is equally as blessed to receive as it is to give. Sometimes, in fact, most of the time we do have to ask for those things that we receive. Even back when you were little, you were taught to ask in your Santa letter for the things that you want. Go sit on Santa’s knee and ask him for what you want. We've been taught that from knee-high to a grasshopper…even in the scriptures, God encourages us to ask for those things that we want. If our hearts are pure and we are one with Him, if we're partnering with Him in this idea that He has given us, if this is something that He has shown us, then all we have to do is a partner with Him. Send that intention out (it's a wish until it becomes an intention by voicing it). Send that intention out to the world in the form of writing it down in a letter. Then tell three people about this vision. Limit it to one vision. Maybe there are multiple facets to that one vision. Maybe there are different components of that vision that you could put in the letter but one vision that you would share with three people. That's your exercise today.
I do encourage you to take the time to do this exercise because around the holidays, especially, we get caught up in the giving. We forget to ask for those things that are important to us…not just gifts; ask for help in fulfilling these bigger visions and goals that God is giving us.
